Gordon Sondland

Gordon David Sondland (16 July 1957-) was the United States ambassador to the European Union from 9 July 2018, succeeding Anthony L. Gardner. In 2019, he played a major role in the investigation into the Trump-Ukraine scandal.

Biography
Gordon David Sondland was born in Mercer Island, Washington on 16 July 1957 to a Jewish family, and, in 1985, he raised $7.8 million from wealthy friends and his brother-in-law and purchased the Roosevelt Hotel in Seattle, founding Provenance Hotels. He became a very successful hotelier, and he also co-founded the merchant bank Aspen Capital. He served on Democratic governor Ted Kulongoski's transition team and served as Chair of the Governor's Office of Film & Television from 2002 to 2015, helping to attract television shows to Oregon. During the 2016 presidential election, he initially supported Donald Trump, donating $1 million to his inaugural committee; however, he opposed his attacks on the Khan family, who were Muslim Gold Star parents. Nevertheless, on 9 July 2018, Sondland was appointed the US ambassador to the European Union. Sondland made strengthening US-EU trade relations a top priority, and he also sought to cooperate with the EU against security threats. In 2019, Trump sent him, Rudy Giuliani, Kurt Volker, and Rick Perry to obtain the Ukrainian government's compliance with an investigation against Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden's son as part of a quid pro quo deal, with the US promising to continue military aid if President Volodymyr Zelensky agreed. On 20 November 2019, Sondland testified to the US Congress that he had acted at the express direction of Trump, and that there was a quid pro quo.